With the Spring 2013 anime season set to begin in a couple of weeks, I am continuing what we here at Capsule Computers dabbled with back at the beginning of the Winter 2013 season. Glancing through the Spring 2013 line-up, it appears that the season is quite strong and is packed full of sequels. Now amongst these shows, which ones will I be picking up? I’ll give you a hint, if it has fan service, harems or is a rom-com it’ll probably be on this list. Here is what I will be picking up this season:

Date A Live
Over thirty years ago a strange “spacequake” occurred and it absolutely destroyed the center of Eurasia, killing over 150 million people and since then various spacequakes have occurred throughout the world. The story of Date A Live follows Shidō Itsuka, a relatively normal high school boy who comes across a strange girl at the base of one of these spacequakes. It turns out that Itsuka has a strange ability, an ability that allows him to seal the power of the Spirits that cause these disasters. However the only way to seal these Spirits is to make them fall in love with him.

This series is pretty much right in my strike zone. Everything I’ve seen of the series so far points towards a harem-comedy with plenty of action sequences. It is originally based off of a set of light novels so the story may be worth sticking around for, but I’ll likely stick with it simply because of the female cast and the interesting premise of spirit girls with supernatural powers.

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge
Haimura Kiri is an odd boy who has an obsession with cutting people’s hair, however one day when he meets a reclusive girl with hair that is longer than her body, he finds himself enamored with her. However her hair cannot be cut due to a curse she inherited. However when Kiri learns that he owns a pair of special cursed scissors called the “dansai bunri no crime edge” he realizes that he can indeed cut her hair. However doing so launches an old murder game where those who possess cursed “killing tools” try to kill the hair queen, in other words Kiri must now protect this girl from those seeking to kill her.

This is certainly an odd sounding series and the whole aspect of the killing tools seems very farfetched, however the promotional material does make the series look decent enough. Plus these aren’t just basic weapons they are using, there are things such as a pair of scissors, a random syringe and more so it will be interesting to see what will occur throughout this season.

Photo Kano
This one is a story about a high school student named Kazuya Maeda who is given a camera at the start of his next school year. He then begins taking pictures of the girls that he likes and it seems that they will eventually start to fall in love with him.

Now… well this one just sounds odd. Anways, it’s an adaptation of a dating simulation video game so I’m not expecting much in the way of plot here. Still, it appears similar to Amagami SS so it’s at least worth checking out, though I’m keeping my hopes relatively low.

Hataraku Maou-sama!
Devil King Sadao is ready to take over the world. However at the height of his powers he is beaten by a hero named Emilia. Defeated, Sadao is forced into another world which happens to be modern-day Tokyo. However since he has zero skills that are worthwhile in a modern world, he must try to live in this world and begins working at a fast food place to try and pay for his living expenses.

There have been quite a lot of demon king type shows lately, and this one is obviously focused on comedy so it’s an easy pick up for me. It appears to have a bit of Working!! in it with fantasy elements and the art style is appealing, so some worry free comedy is always worth checking out.

Hyakka Ryouran Samurai BrideThis one happens to be the sequel to Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls. In an alternative reality, the Tokugawa Shogunate remains in power and the student councils in Japan oppress the schools they rule over. Yagyuu plans to rebel against the student council with the various girls who have become his allies/love interests and since they have already obtained impressive strength thanks to the powers of famous samurai heroes being passed down to them, things will probably be a lot more intense than last season.

Boobs? Wait I did that joke last season didn’t I? Anyways, this is a no brainer obviously considering the high levels of fan-service as well as the fact that I watched the original anime season. It appears to continue the story with the same girls as well as introduce new ones which will probably be enemies initially and eventually turn into allies. Sad to see that the ink splotch censorship will probably return with a vengeance.

Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san
The story focuses around a mermaid who is called Muromi-san that has suddenly been caught by a boy named Takurou that is part of his high school’s fishing club. Muromi loves sweet things and alcohol and states she’s been alive for over a thousand years. Throughout the series Muromi will meet new and old friends and have numerous hilarious conversations with her friends and bothering of Takuro.

This series looks like a nice comedy anime with no strings attached plus potential fan-service. Also helps that the whole mermaid girl thing is a big plus in my book. Anyways, this series appears to be only fifteen minutes long each episode and even if it is random brainless comedy, it’ll likely be hilarious and fresh. Plus considering I’ve never seen a comedy anime involving mermaids before, outside of My Bride is a Mermaid of course, this is at least worth checking out thanks to the comedic promo video.

Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai.This one plays as a direct sequel to the first Oreimo season and will continue from where the OVAs left off. Supposedly this second season is meant to take the anime all the way to the end of the visual novels and have a definitive ending for the anime crowd.

Mmm, considering I watched the entirety of the first season it is an easy pick up for me when it comes to Oreimo season 2. However whether or not I will actually manage to stick around for all of Kirino’s annoying actions and bashing of her brother again is going to be tough to call. Then again, considering this one will be racing towards the finish, it will probably focus more on romance than friendship building like the first season.

Haiyore! Nyaruko-San W
As a sequel to the first season of the anime, viewers can expect the anime to center around the actions of Nyaruko who is meant to be Nyarlathotep from the HP Lovecraft Cthulhu Mythos in girl form and Mahiro, a high school boy who Nyaruko has become infatuated with despite his repeated rejections.

Considering the very random nature of the first season, I’m unsure of where this second season could go. However one thing I know from the original Nyaruko-san was that it was absolutely hilarious and packed full of various references to other anime series and Japanese culture. With more hilarious Nyaruko antics on the way, who could possibly say no?

Hayate no Gotaku! Cuties
This is now the fourth anime series for Hayate the Combat Butler, however just like the third season this one will not be following the manga but instead will feature spin-off stories of each character. It seems that there will be no overarching plot so far from all of the promotional material so far, but this may not be the case in the end.

It is disappointing to see that the Hayate no Gotaku! anime series continue to avoid providing manga continuation, but given this season’s focus on various characters and the fact that it is only ten episodes long, it should be a nice visit into the world of Hayate once again. Unfortunately it seems that the animation quality and the character designs have become even worse, but considering my adoration for the series, I’ll survive.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun SThis is the long awaited second season to the very popular Certain Scientific Railgun series which is a spin-off of the Index novels that focuses on Mikoto Misaka and her friends. As far as information goes, this second season is meant to cover the Sisters story arc from the original source material and will expand upon the events that took place during said arc, though it is said that the events that occur will be much darker than what was shown in Index.

Whether it is due to the popularity of Misaka or the fact that the main cast is all female, it is odd to see that Railgun is almost as popular, if not more popular, than the series it originated from. I will admit though after watching the first season many years ago, I can’t resist picking up this second season, not only because of my love for the Index franchise as a whole but also for more Misaka, Kuroko, Uiharu and Saten.

Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko
Yokodera is a teenage boy, which means that he is always thinking perverted thoughts. However for some reason, whenever he does anything perverted (all the time) the people around him think that he is doing something good. Because he is tired of people misunderstanding him and being a pervert like he is, he travels to a cat statue at a shrine that will take a personality trait from a person who wishes upon it. However when his personality trait is swapped for someone else’s, Yokodera and Tsukiko, the girl who’s personality trait he received, have to try and work together to deal with their new predicament.

The series sounds very promising from it’s story synopsis and seems steeped in romantic comedy with a decent chance for light fan-service here and there so this is a clear pick up for me. It’ll be interesting to see how the characters will react now that their personalities have shifted and since it’s an adaptation of a light novel series which has also been given a manga adaptation, the storyline should be worthwhile as well.